President Barack Obama gave the commencement speech at OSU on Sunday. The President told the graduating class of 2013 to "persevere" and "that nothing worth doing happens overnight."
During his OSU speech Obama talked about the uncertainty of the future. He told the graduates it was their duty to be good citizens and that it was up to them to change the outcome of the future.
During his OSU speech the Obama quoted former President George W Bush when he said, "America needs more than tax payers, spectators and occasional voters. America needs full time citizens." Bush said that during a speech to the OSU graduating class of 2002.
It might surprise some to hear President Obama quote his predecessor in such a positive way. During his first term a lot of Obama's references to George W Bush were meant to cast blame about the state of the country.
Citizenship was the central theme of Obama's OSU speech. He spoke about the duty of being a citizen. Obama said, "At a bare minimum that means voting eagerly and often." But that is not enough according to President Obama.
The President said to the graduates, "I've been thinking a lot about how we can keep this idea of citizenship in its fullest sense alive at the national level, not just on election day."
Obama said he doesn't have the answer yet. He spoke about how citizens of the United States came together during recent tragedies like the Colorado movie theater shooting, Hurricane Sandy, the Boston Bombings and the Newtown elementary school shooting.
In Obama's OSU speech he said, "In the aftermath of darkest tragedy, we have seen the American spirit at its brightest."
"We've seen the petty divisions of color and class and creed replaced by a united urge to help each other. We've seen courage and compassion, a sense of civic duty, and a recognition we are not a collection of strangers."
Obama told the graduates it was up to everyone to figure out how to extend the feeling of citizenship beyond the tragedies and express the feeling every day.
During his OSU speech Obama asked the graduating class to "participate" and "preserve" the democracy.
Throughout the speech Obama urged the students to fight for the changes they want. He spoke about the great power the founders left in the hands of the government and finished his speech by saying,
"We can always aspire to something more. That doesn't depend on who you elect to office. It depends on you, as citizens, how big you want us to be, how badly you want to see these changes for the better."
The OSU commencement speech is the first of three addresses the President will make at graduation ceremonies this month. The next will be May 19 at Morehouse College. The third will be at the Naval Academy graduation in Annapolis May 24.
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